State Dept. official charged with soliciting minor

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. State Department official will be headed to Virginia to face a charge of soliciting a minor following his arrest in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Rosen appeared Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court, where he waived extradition to Virginia. An online court record did not list an attorney for him, and no one responded to a request for comment left at a telephone number associated with his address Wednesday.

Lucy Caldwell, a spokeswoman with the Fairfax County Police Department in northern Virginia said Rosen was arrested at his Washington home around noon Tuesday.

Rosen, 44, was arrested "following a series of online exchanges" with a detective assigned to the Fairfax County Police Department's Child Exploitation Unit, Caldwell said. He was charged with one count of using of a communications device to solicit a juvenile, Caldwell said. Court paperwork in Washington said he was wanted for "obscene communication."

Caldwell did not release any other details of the investigation.

Caldwell said the occupation listed for Rosen is "director of counterterrorism" for the U.S. State Department.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department was aware that one of its employees had been arrested and charged but "for issues related to Department personnel and for privacy reasons" could not identify the person or the charges.

"His security clearance will be suspended and he will be put on administrative leave while this proceeds to its end through any judicial process," Psaki said.